Set-top boxes (STBs), like many consumer media devices, provide a video output and are controlled through a remote control. STBs are typically subjected to various types of testing to determine the device's safety and reliability. For example, an endurance, or stress, test can help gauge the reliability of an STB.
An endurance test may be conducted by a manufacturer, distributor, provider, regulatory agency, consumer group, electronics association, or some other entity. The purpose of an endurance test is to understand how a device will respond to use over a period of time. For example, one type of endurance test includes continuously sending commands from the remote control to the STB. This type of test is presently carried out by a person who operates a remote control and observes output from an STB on a television. Some tests can last for days. In general, such testing is very labor intensive and expensive.
Various tools may be used to perform an endurance test. Generally, to conduct an endurance test, a tool sends a series of commands to an STB, and attempts to monitor the device for failures. Unfortunately, such tools often fail to detect important events, such as system crashes, and may further fail to log the sequence of commands or events that caused the crash.